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ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER

APRIL 7, 2008

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In this issue:

** UPCOMING ES PROGRAM EVENTS: Lunchtime colloquium: Conservation Politics in Africa

** ALSO ON CAMPUS: The Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic Gualete: A Case Study

** ES PROGRAM NEWS: Mellon Funds available, End of Year dinner Wednesday 5/7, 5-7

** GO HO NEWS: Trip to Great Pond, room draw is on Tuesday, Sustainable BBQ

** GRAD SCHOOL INFO: Masters or Doctorate, Interdisciplinary Graduate Sudies, UBC Okanagan

** JOBS and INTERNSHIPS: Highstead Regional Conservation Intern, Campaign for Pet-safe Lawns, Eleuthera, The Bahamas, USGBC, Environmental Education Intern / Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center

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** UPCOMING ES PROGRAM EVENTS:

Conservation Politics in Africa

Ngeta Kabiri,

12:00 in the Fairchild Room in Dana. Join us at 11:30 for lunch with Kabiri

Kabiri will discuss how the intersection of public participation and institutional setting impacts on biodiversity conservation outcomes. Under what institutional conditions would public participation in the conservation project yield viable environmental outcomes?

Dr. Kabiri did his undergraduate studies at the University of Nairobi (Kenyatta College), M.A. in African Studies from Yale University, and PhD in Political Science at UNC Chapel Hill. His research focus is on environmental politics. He has held fellowships from the Social Science Research Council and UC Santa Barbara where he also taught in the department of Black Studies. Also taught at, among others, Kenyatta University, Prairie View A&M, and UNC-Chapel Hill.

** ALSO ON CAMPUS:

THE PEACE CORPS IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC GUALETE: A CASE STUDY

Professor Steve Stamos, Bucknell University

Tuesday, April 8 at 7 pm Diamond 121

This presentation will examine the reality and context of rural underdevelopment in the Dominican Republic by focusing on a case study of the work of a Peace Corps cluster group in the community of Gualete located in the Puerta Plata region.

The talk will examine the specific projects (health, water, micro finance, and education) of three volunteers as well as the impact and legacy of their work. Professor Stamos will critically examine the challenges and opportunities of contemporary globalization in this context and the growing importance of programs such as the Peace Corps for Soft Diplomacy for the United States.

Biography

Stephen Stamos, (Ph.D. The Union Institute) is Professor of economics and international relations. Steve joined the Bucknell faculty in 1974. He was a member of the economics department for 15 years and has been in the International Relations program since. Currently, he is the Director of the IR program. He has taught at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, the Univ. of California, San Diego, and the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City. He has served as a Director for Eastern Environmental (a public firm), has been a consultant to the Swarthmore Group (a private firm), and has been an adjunct faculty member in the international division of a training program for JP Morgan bank. Professor Stamos teaches and does research in the following areas: international economics and finance, economic development, globalization, and energy and environmental economics. He is the author of six books: Economics: A Tool for Understanding Society (now in its 8th edition); International Economics; The ABCís of International Finance; International Economic Policy; Exploring the Global Economy; and Energy Economics.

** ES PROGRAM NEWS:

Mellon Funds available for Summer Internships

The Environmental Studies Program is very fortunate to have received money from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation that can be used to provide stipends to students who want to undertake environmentally-related internships in the summer and over Jan Plan. If you are interested in applying for a summer Mellon internship and you meet the following criteria, please consider applying:

Criteria for Environmental Internship Stipend:

* Preference for ES majors, ES minors/concentrations

* Current seniors eligible for January only

* Internship should be related to environmental science or policy coursework

* Preference for students interning in humanitarian, not-for-profit, and governmental organizations

* Applicants must be in good academic standing and be able to demonstrate financial need

Applications should include the following:

* A written proposal describing the organization sponsoring the internship, the internship responsibilities, and the relationship of the internship to environmental science or policy coursework and to your future career goals;

* A letter of recommendation from a Colby faculty member;

* A current resume;

* A budget proposal listing projected income (including wages, stipends, family contribution, gifts and other) and projected expenses (including transportation, housing, utilities, food, and other); and

* A letter or other communication from the sponsoring organization confirming the internship.

* Submit full application materials (electronic and hardcopy please) to Beth Kopp, box 5356 (Beth.Kopp)

* DEADLINE APRIL 23

ES End of Year Celebration

All is ES majors, minors, and faculty are invited to an End of Year celebration on Wednesday, May 7 from 5:00 - 7:00 in the Parker Reed Room in the Alumni Center. Details to follow, but MARK YOUR CALENDARS.

** Go Ho News:

Great Pond retreat

Last Friday and Saturday, GoHo took a retreat to Great Pond near Bangor. GoHo residents spend Friday evening fireside with scrabble and chili in the Great Pond cabins, and arose on Saturday for a showshoeing excursion with Jonathan Milne. The event was a great opportunity to get out of the bubble, outside, and bond with our green house community.

Want to live in Go Ho next year?

If you are interested in more events like this don't forget rooom draw is this Tuesday.

Sustainable BBQ

Celebrate Earth Week with Go Ho, the annual sustainable BBQ will be on on April 26th.

** GRAD SCHOOL INFO:

Masters or Doctorate, Interdisciplinary Graduate Sudies, UBC Okanagan

Project: Deep Creek Land Use and Water Demand Modelling

Supervisor: John Janmaat, Economics (U6, IKBSAS), UBC Okanagan

This research project is part of an NSERC Strategic Project in Watershed Ecosystems and Sustainability (see below). The objective of this component of the project is to develop a water demand model for the Deep Creek watershed that can predict future water withdrawals, as influenced by climate change impacts. Water demand will follow from agricultural management decisions, which are influenced by economic factors such as crop and input prices, climate impacts on crop water needs, and water availability. To capture the economic factors, the student will need to develop a set of plausible price scenarios for crops that can be grown in the Deep Creek watershed and for the important inputs (fuel, fertilizer, labor) required. For each of the crop options, agronomic production functions will need to be found, and then calibrated to the soil conditions of the Deep Creek watershed and to the predicted climate scenarios. Finally, the economic and agronomic models will be assembled in a spatially explicit model of land use for the watershed. The model will be run against predicted water availability, iterated until water availability and withdrawals are consistent. This last component of the project will require the student to work closely with those working on another part of the project, development of a watershed hydrology and sustainability simulation. In particular, the land use model will need to be constructed at a scale that can be integrated into the hydrologic model, as well as working with important variables predicted by the hydrologic model. The ideal candidate will have a major or minor in economics, strong math skills, and experience with computer programming and modeling. Some familiarity with computer models of crop production and/or hydrology would be an asset.

On its own, this project can provide adequate support for a master's degree. Funding is not in place to support a doctorate. This project can fund the first two years of a doctorate, and provide a foundation for the doctoral thesis. Extending the project into a doctoral thesis will require extensions such as development of a more closely coupled economic-physical model of the Deep Creek watershed, and exploration of the impact of policy options ? water license reforms, well taxes, etc. on water use in the Deep Creek watershed. Funding for this would be sought in cooperation with Dr. Janmaat, from sources such as Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

For consideration, please send a letter of intent, including a statement of interests, a resume or CV, and names and addresses of 3 references to john.janmaat@ubc.ca. Unofficial transcripts would also be appreciated.

Graduate Opportunities (4 positions): NSERC Strategic Project in Watershed

Ecosystems and Sustainability

We are undertaking a NSERC strategic project assessing water sustainability under climate change and increasing demand using a one-water approach at the watershed scale. As a result, we have 3 immediate openings for graduate students (Masters or Ph.D.) at University of British Columbia (Okanagan). Successful candidates will work with multidisciplinary teams in watershed hydrology, hydrogeology, water economics and sustainability simulation. Financial support will be provided through a combination of research and teaching assistantships. Interested candidates should have a background in hydrology, hydrogeology, environmental chemistry, physical geography and ecohydrology.

For consideration, please send the appropriate contact below by e-mail with: a letter of intent, including a statement of interests, a resume, and names and addresses of 3 references. Unofficial transcripts would also be appreciated.

1) Surface water and groundwater interactions: geo-chemistry (Principal Investigator Dr. Craig Nichol, UBC; E-mail: Craig.nichol@ubc.ca, one graduate position). This project will focus on application of several geochemical methods to understand interactions between surface water and groundwater in a community watershed.

2) Estimation of spatially varied groundwater recharge (Principal Investigator Dr. Al Woodbury, University of Manitoba; E-mail: woodbur@cc.umanitoba.ca, one graduate position). The project will use field data and land surface model to estimate spatially

varied groundwater recharge.

3) Estimation of future water demand (Principle investigator Dr. John Janmaat, UBC; email: John.janmaat@ubc.ca, one graduate position). This project will involve Environment Canada, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to estimate future water demand using a multiple crop land use model as well as climate change scenarios.

4) Watershed hydrology and sustainability simulation (Principle investigator Dr.

Adam Wei, UBC; E-mail: adam.wei@ubc.ca, one graduate position). This project will use a suitable watershed hydrology model to predict the impacts of watershed disturbance, climate change and population growth on hydrology.

** JOBS and INTERNSHIPS:

Highstead, Regional Conservation Intern

Description:

Regional Conservation Internship Description:

Student intern(s) will participate in on-going conservation initiative-based projects with Highstead's Regional Conservationist. Responsibilities may include land, open space, and assessor’s records research, Internet and literature review, data entry, and analysis. In addition, students may interact with conservation, forestry, forest ecologist, and planning professionals from CT, MA, RI and NY as well as with researchers from Harvard Forest. Students are encouraged to attend seminars and guided tours held at Highstead given by nationally and internationally regarded scientists and conservationists.

Application Deadline: June 1, 2008

Approximate dates of internship: September 29, -December 19, 2008

Regional Conservation Program Initiatives

• Research case studies involving models of collaborative conservation and cross-boundary coordination of land conservation and management from around the world and develop a database with defined attributes;

• Support the development of ongoing regional conservation partnerships in eastern New York and southern New England (e.g. by updating protected open space data layers);

• Summarize findings of research on how the implementation of bold conservation visions like Wildlands and Woodlands can further efforts to mitigate impacts from climate change and future energy supply issues, provide access to clean air and water, and further smart growth efforts;

• Communicate lessons to key interest groups using a variety of media e.g. websites, publications, symposia, conferences, etc.;

• Assist in the coordination of the multi-state Wildlands and Woodlands Partnership; and,

• Organize and plan for various Wildlands and Woodlands and other conservation initiatives.

Qualifications:

We seek students with a demonstrated interest and enthusiasm for the implementation of landscape ecology, land conservation, forestry, and/or smart growth-based regional planning within a matrix of forests, farms, and development who attend (or have recently attended) colleges and universities across the country.

Duration:

Approximate dates of internship: September 29, -December 19, 2008

Start Date:

Sept. 29, 2008

Hrs.

40 hrs/week

Compensation:

Student compensation includes the following: • Stipend of $4920 for the 12-week session; • Travel reimbursement of up to $350 for one round trip to Highstead • Free furnished housing • Food Stipend

Application Procedure:

Please send:

• Two letters of recommendation

• Cover letter describing your related environmental science, planning, natural resource conservation background and interests (including relevant courses, employment, or experiences), your expectations for a successful experience, and your educational and career objectives. (300 words maximum)

• Resume

Please send all materials to

Bill Labich, Regional Conservationist

Highstead

PO Box 1097

Redding Center, CT 06875

by June 1, 2008

Notification of Acceptance will be made by First week in July 2008

Strategic Counsel on Corporate Accountability, Campaign for Pet-safe Lawns

Amherst and Northampton, MA

Bernadette Giblin

beingiblin@gmail.com

April 15, 2008

Description:

Help build a campaign for pesticide free lawns, organizing pet owners as a new constituency against pesticides. This involves event organizing and promotion of screenings of a film to be released this summer. See http://catsdogslawns.org

Qualifications:

You're good with people, enthusiastic, and want to mobilize people for an anti-toxics cause. It helps if you also love dogs and cats.

Eleuthera, The Bahamas

The Cape Eleuthera Institute, in conjunction with The Island School, is offering volunteer positions to qualified individuals seeking work experience and hands-on training in permaculture design and agricultural systems. The intern will work primarily in our orchard, plant nursery, garden, or aquaponics system helping propagate and transplant fruit trees and vegetables, manage pests, sow seeds, and gain further knowledge in sustainable, low-input agricultural systems. Opportunities exist to work on current Institute research projects, gathering data, recording results, and documenting methodologies. More information on the Cape Eleuthera Institute at www.ceibahamas.org, and on The Island School at www.islandschool.org. Qualifications: Applicants must have completed course work or have acquired practical experience in horticulture, landscape design or related field AND must be competent in the use of agriculture equipment, have an interest in plants, trees, and livestock, and the ability to work independently. Duration: 3 months. Start Date: May 15. Compensation: There is no stipend for this position. Dormitory-style housing and all meals are covered for the duration of the internship. Please send your current resume and cover letter outlining your qualifications for this position to colleenobrien@ceibahamas.org.

USGBC currently has an opportunity for aspiring green building professionals to gain broad knowledge about the field of green building by interning with its Education and Research department

The responsibilities of this paid internship include supporting the USGBC Research Committee, cataloging and summarizing research reports, answering inquiries for market and technical research data, as well as providing administrative support associated with USGBC’s research initiatives.

Specific Responsibilities Include:

Respond to customer phone and e-mail inquiries about research reports and data

Conduct literature searches to collect technical and/or market data in support of USGBC programs and operations including business planning, educational programming, outreach, advocacy and LEED standards development

Work with USGBC Research Manager and Ginsberg Research Fellow to support new and ongoing research efforts

Provide administrative support to USGBC Research Committee including meeting and call scheduling, agenda preparation, meeting minutes and general coordination

Identify, collect, summarize and catalog industry research reports and findings for posting to USGBC website

Create, update and organize research databases as needed

Manage the USGBC resource library

Other duties as assigned

Please forward résumé and letter of interest with title of position to jobs@usgbc.org or fax to 202-478-5046 attn: E. Tarring.

Environmental Education Intern / Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center

Maine Audubon

The environmental education intern leads educational programs on salt-marsh ecology at Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center (training provided). These 1.5-hour, hands-on nature explorations for groups of all ages are held Monday through Friday from May 3 to June 12. After June 12, the center is open to the public seven days a week, and the intern assists with a variety of family, children and adult programs throughout the summer. In addition, the intern will complete a project mutually designed with the supervisor, such as making displays and interactive exhibits, updating the teacher and volunteer packets with current background information and activities, and designing and creating new props and activities for programs.

Intern must be able to work independently and have experience working with the public. A background in teaching or environmental education and experience working with children is a plus.

Benefits are negotiable depending on the time commitment. Possible contract work is available. Benefits may include: free canoe rentals; 15 percent discount on store merchandise; discounted or free admission to Maine Audubon programs and trips; enrichment in natural history and educational techniques.

The position runs early May through August and usually consists of 120 hours or more. Time commitment and scheduling are flexible. For more information, contact Linda Woodard at (207) 781-2330, ext. 213, or smac@maineaudubon.org.

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Beth Kopp

Coordinator, Environmental Studies Program

Colby College

5356 Mayflower Hill Drive

Waterville, Maine 04901

Office: 208 Diamond Building

207.859.5356